Heart of the Highland Wolf by Terry Spear

Just when I thought Terry Spear’s Wolf series couldn’t possibly get any better, I read Heart of the Highland Wolf. Sure, all Terry’s wolves are sexy and alpha to the core, but this really wasn’t fair.  Be still my wolfen heart….meet Laird Ian MacNeill: Scottish Alpha werewolf in a kilt! Oh and did I mention he’s a quadruplet? Really do I need to go on with the review because personally that would be enough to get me to read it!

Heart of the Highland Wolf gives us nonstop suspense-filled action, steamy sexual tension, and stomach churning emotional struggles that keep us on the edge of our seats. With Spear’s smooth storytelling and incomparable attention to detail, you simply become a part of the world you’re reading. Heart of the Highland Wolf is one not to be missed!

Almost Human Trilogy by Melanie Nowak

This is one of those books that was pleasantly surprising. After reading the description, I was leery because it just screamed TWILIGHT. I got this book in the 3 in 1 binding and I’m glad I did--each book ends so abruptly, I would not have enjoyed it had I not had the following book immediately. It is a large book and was pretty intimidating when I sat down to start reading it, but the stories flow so well, that was a detail easily forgotten. I can’t review this as 3 separate books because I didn’t see them as truly separate. The books progress from one right into the next with barely a breath of time between the end of one and the beginning of the next.

The characters in this book were very enjoyable and easy to relate to. The beginning of the book was a bit slow until Felicity comes out of her shell a bit. I loved the friendship between Alli, Ben, and Felicity. The dynamics of their friendship seemed very true to life, like any new friendship you’d make when you go off to school. Cain and Felicity’s relationship bothered me some at first because Felicity was so young and naïve, falling in love very hard and very quickly. Cain was a fascinating and complex character. He would’ve been a great character in the book even without his relationship with Felicity. I was surprised at how my feelings for Sindy changed throughout the book. One minute I hated her evil ways and the next I felt sorry for her and wanted someone to just give her a chance. 

The story itself is filled with deep emotional struggles and twists and turns that keep you desperate to know what happens next. Each character had his/her own struggles throughout the story so that you always had something to look forward to instead of reading about only one couple. The end of the book was definitely not what I was expecting; Ms Nowak certainly left us a cliffhanger!  I would recommend this book to someone who is looking for something a little more mature than Twilight, but not quite ready for a purely adult vampire romance.  It’s well-written and unique in a genre inundated with young vampire romance books. I look forward to seeing what twists the author throws at us in the next trilogy.

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From Almost Human’s Amazon page

ALMOST HUMAN ~ The First Trilogy ~ 3-in-1 Edition

In this paranormal fantasy, chapters alternate perspective between a vampire and a young woman, as they join an ensemble cast of characters to navigate difficulties of addiction and desire; perils of zombies and vampires; and struggles with abuse, morality and... college.
 
Vol. 1: Fatal Infatuation 
Felicity views going away to college as an opportunity to mature into a confident young woman, but her new beginning turns out to be more of an adventure than she bargains for when she finds that her school is plagued by vampires!
Cain is an elder vampire who displays quiet confidence even as he struggles to overcome sins of his past. Surprisingly, he found that in losing his life he gained his faith and a purpose.
His mission: find the hostile vampires that inhabit this small college town, and educate them to live in peace with humans. Their leader, Sindy, is a wicked temptress who has set her sights on Felicity's new friend Ben. She will be difficult to control, but after meeting Felicity, Cain's most difficult task lies in controlling himself.

 Vol. 2: Lost Reflections
Felicity has helped her friends to escape the venomous vixen Sindy, but cannot divine the motives of Cain, the vampire who captured first her gratitude, and then her heart.
She finds the historical account of Cain's past enthralling and frightening. Now she must determine whether the addictive venom in Cain's kiss is clouding her judgment, and if his thirst for her blood is a driving force too strong for their love to conquer.
It's difficult to contemplate such questions while under the attack of a vengeful vampire and his zombie slaves. Felicity's heart has already been lost to Cain; will she lose her life as well?
  Vol. 3: Evolving Ecstasy
The relationship between Cain and Felicity has crested to a peak that leaves them unsure whether to step back from each other for safety, or jump into a future united in death.
The venom of Cain's bite could protect Felicity from hostile vampires, but it would give him a measure of psychic control over her as well. Would Felicity only accept becoming a vampire, due to his addictive venom, coupled with the foolishness of a young girl in love?
Perhaps there is a brighter future for her in the human world. Is Cain's desire for Felicity's love worth the loss of her life?

Vampires of the Chesapeake: Kian Mac Tiernan by D.A. Rhine

Kian MacTiernan is a fantastic beginning to the Vampires of the Chesapeake series. Kian and Darcy are the type of characters that you care for immediately. I really like the way the author started the story off with Kian and Darcy’s individual histories before jumping into the story of them together. Knowing their history upfront made the story much deeper because you know what they both went through before meeting each other and you can understand their behavior without a lot of “flash backs” to explain it all. 

Kian’s character isn’t your typical vampire. Yes he’s handsome and powerful, but you get a very real sense of his vulnerability and deep “human” feelings. He makes mistakes and he feels guilty for them. Darcy is a strong woman who has some insecurity and trust issues that makes her character very real. I love the beginning of their relationship with the mixed signals and misunderstandings. It made it more like any normal new relationship with all the same issues, notwithstanding one of them is a vampire. Darcy had more problems excepting that Kian owned an escort service than she did when she found out he was a vampire!

Ruth is a poster child for the evil jealous ex girlfriend. As a vampire employee and sometimes lover to Kian she does everything in her power to destroy what Kian and Darcy have together. When flaunting her sexy body and revealing Kian’s secret doesn’t work she pulls out all the stops and shows how truly devious and evil she can be. Talk about the ex from hell.

 I’m very anxious to see where Rhine takes this series. It’s not obvious in this book who she will write about next. I will certainly be reading whatever comes next!

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From http://darhine.com/index.php

Kian MacTiernan enslaved in 1654 was shipped to a Virginian plantation. Forced to leave behind his wife, children, and Ireland, Kian focused his energy on escaping, reclaiming his family, and his life. One night, he fled the plantation and encountered a stranger who promised him freedom. Unfortunately, Kian had to die first.

Over 300 years later, Kian, now a successful owner of an escort service, advertised for an administrative assistant. When Darcy Engel walked into the interview, his urge to possess her startled him. She awakened needs he'd thought long dead. Resolved to maintain a professional relationship, regardless of his body's desires, he hired Darcy without revealing his vampiric nature or initially his business's product. But Ruth, an immortal employee and occasional bedfellow, threatened his facade and Darcy. At war with his own body and integrity, Kian found himself caught between two women, two worlds, and too many lies.

Playing for Keeps: A Neighbor From Hell Novel by R.L. Mathewson

R.L. Mathewson is the master of writing hilarious conversations between characters. I don’t know how many times I laughed out loud throughout the whole book. All the characters are so vibrant and real, I could see myself hanging out with them on any given night. The storyline itself is filled with situations that anyone can imagine themselves going through. Who hasn’t been embarrassed by a friend or irritated with their family at one time or another?  There are some minor editing errors but nothing too bothersome and Mathewson’s conversations between characters are fast-paced as in real life, which makes for exciting yet slightly confusing dialogue at times.

While this is not the type of book I would normally pick up, I loved Mathewson’s  paranormal romance Tall, Dark, and Lonely so much I wanted to see if her other books would be as good. Playing for Keeps did not disappoint! I would highly suggest this book for anyone who likes a good book full of witty banter and believable fun characters. The romance is just sweet enough and the emotional struggles that come from falling for one’s best friend makes this book a keeper. I can’t wait to see what she does next with this series!

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From R.L. Mathewson’s website: http://www.rlmathewson.com/more.html

Done with being the world's biggest pushover, Haley decides that things are going to change starting with the aggravating neighbor who has too much charm and not enough restraint. What she didn't expect was to be sucked into his world, but Haley has a game plan and she won't let herself forget just what the bad boy next door is capable of.

The last thing Jason expected was for his little shy neighbor to go Rambo on him over some ruined flowers. After he decides to take her under his wing he can't help but that notice that she fits very nicely in his life. Now the only left is to convince her that this is anything but a game.